25 Beautiful Homes February 2016

A decorating mantra that is always listed as a must-do if you’ve just moved is ‘Before you decorate, live in your new home to become accustomed to how you use it and see how the light travels across a space’. Now unless you’re one of the lucky ones who has bought the perfect house, it’s likely there’s going to be at least one room decorated in a way you can’t live with for too long. Looking back to when we moved in to ours, we did follow this advice, but not through choice. It was because there was a lot of remedial work to be done and a lack of funds. If not, I’d have been pulling up the carpet that made it feel like we were living in a…

1 SHADE OF SOPHISTICATION Moonstone bowl pendant light, £1,800, Besselink & Jones 2 PRECIOUS METALS Aerin agate coasters trimmed with 18-carat gold, £186 for four, LuxDeco 3 MARBLE CAKE Serving stand, £55, Oliver Bonas 4 WRITTEN IN STONE Anna New York Fim bookends in natural agate, £300, Amara 5 TIMELESS BEAUTY Marble wall clock, £40, Laura Ashley 6 SMOKY SHADES Marble-effect cushion, £12, Very 7 TABLETOP BRASS House Doctor Este marble and brass table lamp, £150, Eclect Design 8 FIRST-CLASS FITTINGS Double Thames vanity unit in brass and Arabesco marble, from £6,300, Drummonds 9 MIXED MATERIALS Reddick side table in iron and white marble, £157, Wayfair…

1 SCULPTURAL SILHOUETTE Savio table lamp, £229, Aflair 2 FASHION PLATES Elska dinnerware, from £6, Gray & Willow at House of Fraser 3 WIRE WORKS Factorylux Wire Balloon Cage pendant, £55, LightBulbs Direct 4 ANIMAL HOUSE Handpainted zebra ceramic door knobs, £40 per pair, Osprey London 5 MONO LUXE Black wooden mirror, £62, MiaFleur 6 BLOCK CAPITALS Alphabet cushion, £10, Next 7 TRIBAL TOWEL Wrong for Hay He bath sheet, £29, Unique & Unity 8 GRAPHIC DESIGN Hexagon Hive side table, £295, The French Bedroom Company 9 MONO MESSAGE Personalised moon phase print, £71, The Drifting Bear Co 1 0 STATEMENT SEAT Duchess armchair, from £1,235, here in Tori Murphy Boulder fabric, £100m, Content by Terence Conran…

OMBRE WALLPAPER I love the dip-dye effect of the walls in Jan and David Constantine’s bathroom (p157, November 2015). Can you tell me if this is a wallpaper? DEBORAH JEEVES, BY EMAIL This is, in fact, a paint effect that Jan did herself, but I’ve sourced a comparable wallpaper, which has a similar ombre impression. Saraille (shown right) comes in 11 colourways, including Cobalt, and costs £213 per 12m roll by Designers Guild (020 7351 5775, designersguild.com). Or you could try Demeter Stripe by Harlequin (0845 123 6815, harlequin.uk.com), a watercolour-like stripe that is available in seven colours, £54 per 10m roll. MID-CENTURY BEDSIDE TABLE I really like 1950s-inspired bedside tables. I’m keen to find one with a drawer and flared legs – can you help? JACQUELINE BRIGHT, WEST SUSSEX This Mid-Century bedside table comes…

A decorating mantra that is always listed as a must-do if you’ve just moved is ‘Before you decorate, live in your new home to become accustomed to how you use it and see how the light travels across a space’. Now unless you’re one of the lucky ones who has bought the perfect house, it’s likely there’s going to be at least one room decorated in a way you can’t live with for too long. Looking back to when we moved in to ours, we did follow this advice, but not through choice. It was because there was a lot of remedial work to be done and a lack of funds. If not, I’d have been pulling up the carpet that made it feel like we were living in a…

INSPIRING HOME TRUTHS THE PROPERTY Victorian terraced house LOCATION West London ROOMS Hall, sitting room, kitchen-diner, family room, cloakroom, five bedrooms (one en suite), two bathrooms PURCHASED 2007 PREVIOUS PROPERTY ‘Before we moved here, we lived in a three-bedroom maisonette in this area,’ says Louisa. Louisa Mousley’s passion for colour and pattern is evident the moment you enter the front door. Here, the entrance hall boasts a striking navy-and-white wallpaper juxtaposed with a stair runner featuring a bright orange trim. ‘I can’t imagine a home without colour,’ she says. When Louisa and her husband Simon moved to the terraced Victorian house in west London eight years ago, the interior looked very different. All the fireplaces and much of the cornicing had been torn out, and the original sash windows had been replaced by UPVC versions, so they made…